


Are You Offering to Take Me to the Stars?

by journesol



Category: Doctor Strange (movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Marvel X OngNielMinHwan, Other Additonal Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn Ish, Smut? Maybe, Swearing, crack-ish thanks to ongniel, cursing, ironman!jaehwan, more tags to come, sorcerer!minhyun, sorcerer!seongwu, spiderman!daniel, yeah a lot of swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 20:41:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20264215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/journesol/pseuds/journesol
Summary: It takes some metal, a spider, a street magician and a librarian to take down an interdimensional threat.orA Marvel x OngNielMinHwan Fic. Basically.Note:Every Marvel character here and concepts belong to Marvel.Title taken from the Marvel comics, a conversation between Tony and Strange.





	Are You Offering to Take Me to the Stars?

**Author's Note:**

> FIRST CHAP AAA  
okay, if this a total flop tony stark wrote this
> 
> everything unexplained WILL BE explained in future chapters... so don't be too worried if ur confused

/ 2028 / 

It's around  _ midnight _ when another giant ship filled with alien creatures has  _ invaded _ the planet. This time, it landed somewhere in the giant lavender fields of  _ Goseong County _ , a city in  _ Gangwon, South Korea _ . 

The sight of it was  _ terrible— _ the flower fields were destroyed, the land broke and houses collapsed and burned due to the crash, people running and taking cover, others being held captive.

“Where is the  _ Sorcerer Supreme _ ?” One of the aliens pointed their giant guns towards an innocent old florist, the man shaking in fear. “ _ Answer _ me!” The gun nears his face.

“I don't know what you're talking about!” The florist cries out in Korean, shutting his eyes and curling unto the ground. 

The alien plasters a confused look, not understanding the language, then it shifts to an expression full of anger. Not satisfied with the old man's answer, he fires up the gun, aiming it right for his head. “ _ Useless _ .” 

Although, before the blast even escapes the gun, the alien has already fallen to the ground,  _ lifeless _ . The old man opens his eyes slowly, shocked to see a dead alien in front of him. He looks around to find the source of it's death, then he sees him—

“Iron Man?” The old man questions. He's in a suit, but it's not red, it's  _ silver _ . 

The suited man chuckles, shaking his head (if that's even possible,  _ I think it is _ ). “I'm more of his work partner actually, Kim Jaehwan, I work for Mr. Stark's Korean Division— no time to explain, though. Please take cover kind sir.”

“Yes, thank you.” The old man gets up with the help of the so-called ’iron man’ of South Korea, in this case. The florist runs and takes shelter, not wanting to run into anymore alien threats. 

“ _ You _ ,” The silver-suited man turns around and is faced with another alien, he rolls his eyes behind the mask. He thinks this might be their leader, because he's wearing some kind of gold cloth while the others— he looks around —the other's aren't really wearing anything.  _ Okay, that's gross. _ “lead me to the Sorcerer Supreme.”

_ Sorcerer Supreme _ , he's heard this, somewhere. It's a familiar term to him, but not enough to ring any bells. Probably he's heard it from a board meeting? From a talk?  _ Stark Expo _ ? He isn't sure, maybe because he  _ never _ really payed attention to any of those. 

_ Anywho _ , he just has one plan, as always:  _ ‘kill these dudes, save the people, and get the hell out of there so he can get back before Daehwi wakes up’ _ .

“I have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe you've come to the wrong planet.” Jaehwan calmly says. This isn't the first time he's come face to face with a being not from his own planet, he's been through  _ worse _ , but it doesn't make this time any easier.

“ _ Ridiculous! _ ” The alien spat. “The Time Stone is here! On planet C-53! It is  _ guarded _ by a Sorcerer Supreme and if you do not show him to me then I will make this planet  _ pay _ .” That sharp voice just grew louder and louder. 

“I don't know what the  _ fuck _ you're are talking about,” Jaehwan sighs. “Sorcerer Supreme? What's that's supposed to be? A magical pizza flavor?” 

He shakes his head— he was going off track here— as he gets into his usual fighting stance. “Don't even  _ think _ about destroying my planet because then you'll have to go through  _ me _ , you hear?” 

“Consider it  _ done _ ,” The alien plainly said back. He lifts a hand and the spaceship opens three doors that releases a hord of, what Jaehwan thinks are his alien warriors—  _ because what the hell they're carrying spears but running like monkeys! _ —the alien smirks. “Attack!”

“Seriously?  _ Attack _ ? That command signal is  _ so _ old.” His eyes roam around the groups of aliens coming for him. “B is for  _ bo-ring _ !” 

Suddenly, Jaehwan opens his palms to them, and the repulsors light up,  _ blasting _ them and killing all of them in the front row with a single hit. It wasn't long until Jaehwan's nanite boots made him fly and shot them from above, making his a job a  _ little _ bit easier. With his usual sarcasm (because he  _ knows _ he's defeating them), he drops little bombs unto them, smirking as he watches them explode. When he sets himself back on the ground, he's staring at all those creatures laying there,  _ lifeless _ .

Jaehwan hears the annoying screaming from the aliens coming at him, 5 o'clock.  _ —God, they sound like Daehwi screaming from seeing a lizard on the wall _ — He turns around and shoots them with his right hand, then he hears aliens running from the opposite end. He lifts his left hand, the repulsors from that glove blasting them too. 

Jaehwan nearly panics when he sees aliens running towards him from the front. “MAGU, release the Nano Tech.”

“Sir, Nano Tech is not that stable yet. If we do that we'll decrease 2% of fuel per ten seconds of usage.” Jaehwan hears MAGU's voice ring in his suit. 

Jaehwan huffs, clearly struggling at the dying aliens piling at his sides. “MAGU, i'm gonna  _ die _ . Just do it.” 

“Sir, you'll die before you even win if you lose fuel.” MAGU snaps back.

“MAGU you're  _ killing _ me already!” Jaehwan whines in the suit like a kid, imagining Daehwi just rolling his eyes at him. “Just do it! Please?”

Suddenly, two pieces of metal separate from the back of his suit and turns into an extra set of blasters, shooting continuously at the aliens surrounding him. “Yes! I  _ love _ you MAGU!” Jaehwan cries. “Die you naked-ass ET's!”

When the battlefield clears up, Jaehwan walks towards the ship,  _ effortlessly _ shooting at the remaining aliens coming for him. He looks around, wondering where their annoying leader could be. “Hey! Leader alien dude! Where are you? Hiding? Please, don't be a coward, you started this.” Jaehwan stood in front of the shut spaceship door, knocking even.

“Silence yourself!” That sharp  _ —and stupidly annoying _ — voice rang through the field like a megaphone. 

“Yeah, well, i'm not the one using fifty speakers to tell someone to shut up.” Jaehwan retorts. 

“Annoying humans.” The alien cries out. Then, the ship starts to power up and lifts itself off the ground. “This isn't over. I will be back, with a better, more stronger army! And you will no longer be laughing— instead, you will be  _ crying _ , begging for us to stop. If you do not hand over the Time Stone when I return, I will  _ wipe _ out this planet until it is ceased from existence!”

Jaehwan just narrowed his brows,  _ so done. _ “Okay,  _ uh _ , can you at least give your troops some underwear when you come back? It's kind of unfair you get fancy gold clothing when they do all the fighting. They deserve better.” 

He watches the ship fly up towards the sky and far away from their planet,  _ thank God _ . 

“MAGU, are they all dead?” Jaehwan asked, scanning the field, ready if anything else were to happen.

“No more traces of living unidentified creatures, Sir.” MAGU announced. 

Before Jaehwan can say anything else, an erupt of cheers are then heard from behind him. “Thank you, Iron Man!” and all those  _ biz _ . 

Jaehwan turns around and sends a polite bow and wave to the people who hid inside a now-destroyed building. “I apologize for the destroyed flowers and,  _ well _ , naked beings on your field, but I can promise you that a rebuild for damages will be filed immediately and all of you can be in peace in a week or so. For now, please just gather in the respective evacuation centers and stay safe.” 

He then flys  _ up _ into the night sky and onward. 

“MAGU please send an email to file a recovery on Goseong's damages— straight to the Mr. Pres please, thank you.” Jaehwan commands, pressing his lips together shortly after.

The sound of a cheerful male voice, MAGU (or as Jaehwan put it:  _ My Assistant in Going Undercover _ ) rang through the suit. “Right away, Sir.” 

MAGU was Jaehwan's personal assistant but in a form of an A.I. He was more or less a system that helped Jaehwan's ‘superhero’ life a little more easier. 

Jaehwan made MAGU after Tony Stark talked to him about FRIDAY and JARVIS, saying that it was easier to do things such as plan, battle, build— and even personal things such as doing searches online, opening doors or going in auto-drive.

He had MAGU installed to  _ almost _ everything, his home, his vehicles, his suits— even his  _ toilet _ (but no one  _ needed _ to know that). 

Eversince then, Jaehwan couldn't imagine how much time he could save now that he has MAGU to help him.  _ He's kinda like Siri, or Google, but way better.  _ Jaehwan thinks.  _ No shade.  _

Jaehwan takes a deep, relieved breath when he sees his brightly lit building in sight. As they neared, MAGU announces, “Fuel on 2%. Suit shut down in one minute.”

“Oh,  _ come on! _ ” 

They've reached the penthouse (at 5 seconds to complete shut down with Jaehwan screaming like a  _ madman _ on the way back) and he landed on the helipad chest first. He groans when he found it quite hard to move with the suit on him. 

“MAGU... open the suit please.” At the command, the front of the suit opens, allowing Jaehwan to step out of it and watch it  _ insert _ itself into the floor where it will be placed back to the lab. 

He took a deep, calm breath before getting up and walked inside of his home. With his right hand, he reached to his left shoulder to massage it a bit, it  _ ached _ , for some odd reason. As he dragged his hand across his torso, his watch clinked against the  _ glowing metal _ in his chest.

~~~

/ 2024 /

Like Tony Stark, Jaehwan has an Arc Reactor of his own. In fact, it's kind of the reason how the two  _ met _ . 

Four years ago, a Stark Expo was held in Korea, all was going well that day when suddenly a group of, _well_, let's just say it's an organization that wanted to use Tony's prototypes for weapons to do God knows what— _so basically,_ _thieves_. There was a heist; a break-in into the room of where his new models of Repulsors were. 

Jaehwan, being a young college graduate from the field of  _ Robotics _ , who was like every other graduate there who idolized and dreamed to be like Tony, was at the Expo during that surprise visit of unwelcomed guests.

Jaehwan remembered it all; the screaming, the running, the gun firing. He wasn't scared—  _ hell no _ — he was more of  _ excited _ than scared, actually. He was actually  _ going _ to see Iron Man in action right in front of him. 

He took cover behind one of the giant tables, while others ran for their lives. Jaehwan peeked from the table, exposing the top half of his head to the scene of the battle in front of him. 

He was shocked and concerned to see Tony so wrecked, his suit was, definitely broken at this point, seeing that it's only half that's left. Blood dripped from his face down and he was on the ground, breathing harshly as he looked up at the supposed  _ villain _ with anger on his face.

“Look at you, Tony. You're  _ dying _ .” The villain chuckles, circling around him. “I never thought i'd actually  _ witness _ this moment.”

“You have what you want, why don't you leave already?” Tony spat, he was so angry, but if only he could move, he would punch that guy right in the  _ balls _ to shut him up. 

“I just want to tease you a little bit more. It's fun actually.” The villain smiles. “Where's the team? Aren't they gonna back you up or something?”

Tony stays silent, looking away. It's been a while since the Avengers, and if he was going to be very honest, the other members have been busy with their own gigs too, like their having own families and saving the world—  _ or universe _ — and what not, just like the situation that Tony is kind of in right now. 

“Can't you just leave, please? At least let me die in peace, you bastard.” Tony huffs.

“Well, I  _ can _ leave, but I certainly  _ won't _ let you die in peace.” The villain starts to float of the ground, using his suit and tech similar to Tony's. “There's still a bomb in this room that defuses in more or less ten minutes. Enjoy your last few moments,  _ Iron Man. _ ” Just like that, the villain escapes. His allies exiting the building and drove away in their get-away trucks with the Repulsors in them.

When the coast was clear, Jaehwan is quick to rush towards Tony, almost startling the elder. “Kid, what are you still doing here?” Tony's voice sounded like it was almost scolding the younger (he probably was). 

Jaehwan could squeal due to the fact that his idol was right here in front of him,  _ almost dying, sure _ , but he was  _ here _ . “Mr. Stark, I never really wanted us to meet in this kind of way where you're almost dying and well, there's a bomb ticking... but I just wanted you to know that you are one of the best inspirations—” 

Tony looked at him with a  _ ‘seriously, now? _ ’ look and Jaehwan nodded, cutting himself off. 

“Yeah, you're right, let's get out of here.”

Jaehwan thanked the heavens that he didn't skip (or more like declined) all the gym sessions with Daniel (he forced Jaehwan) because then he would have a hard time bringing Tony Stark back unto his feet. 

Once they walked outside the venue, the police and a blonde woman who Jaehwan assumed was Pepper Potts (and he assumed right) rushed to Tony, helping him get away from the building that's about to explode.

They stay a good distance away from the building when Jaehwan hears something odd. He was about to get into a vehicle to leave the place but the sound haunts him. A girl was screaming for help and it came from inside the building. He asked one of the cops, to go and save her, and the response was something Jaehwan fumes his anger at. 

“The building is about to explode, kid. It would be too dangerous. You can't save everyone.”

Without thinking twice (actually thinking three times) Jaehwan ran towards the building, shocking everyone, especially Tony Stark who was the one of the first to notice. 

He screamed for the cops to run after the kid, but the cops didn't listen and stay put, scared that the bomb would explode any minute now. Tony never felt so angry. He wanted to run towards him but he couldn't.

“Please keep that kid alive.” Tony prays.

Jaehwan is panting hard and frantically searching around the large hall for the screaming woman in need. “Lady? Are you here? Lady!”

“Here! Someone help! I'm here!” Jaehwan sees a hand raised from all the toppled over bits of the building. Once Jaehwan is face to face with the woman, she cries. “My body is trapped here. Although, you should call for help! Or take cover! You're not supposed to be doing this.” The woman said.

“No, no, i'm here to help. Let's just get you out of this, alright?” Jaehwan grabs a long piece of metal to get the large part of the fallen wall to raise so she can climb out. Jaehwan noticed her struggling to walk.

“You're limping,” Jaehwan carries the woman with ease. “sorry but we really need to run.”

Jaehwan runs out of the building again and once he reaches the doors, the cops are there waiting and then reaching out to grab him and the woman. The cops take the woman from Jaehwan's arms so he can loosen up, but it's when he notices he's falling behind from the cops, panting heavily, and hearing a booming sound from behind, when he feels himself burning and falling to the ground.

———

“Kid, hey kid? Wake up for me, boy.  _ That's it, _ good job.” 

Jaehwan opens his eyes slowly but squints immediately when he realizes that he's lying in front of a bright flourescent light. He groans from the soreness of his body, slighty shifting from where he lays. 

“Kid?” Jaehwan looks at his right and sees Tony Stark with a wrench and—  _ is that... a cheesburger? from Burger King? _ Now Jaehwan's stomach was rumbling. “How many fingers am I holding up?” 

“Mr. Stark... that's a  _ wrench _ .” Jaehwan cracks a smile and Tony does too. The younger boy took a few seconds to breathe, looking around the unfamiliar room. “Where am I?”

“You're in my lab, kid.” Tony mutters before taking a bite of his burger. 

“Oh...  _ wait— _ WE'RE IN NEW YORK?” Jaehwan asks—  _ almost screams _ at Tony, he drops the wrench.

“For crying out loud,  _ yes _ , we're in New York. Where else would my lab be?” Tony shook his head. “Is giving people mini heart attacks kind of your hobby?”

Ignoring Tony, Jaehwan freezes when he sees what's on his chest— or  _ in _ his chest in this case. “I-i-is that... an A-arc React—” 

“Okay, so, don't freak out, kiddo.” Tony starts, placing his hand on Jaehwan's shoulder to keep him calm. “What you did back at the Expo was a very brave and a very kind thing to do, yet, it almost killed you. If it wasn't for me placing an Arc Reactor in you, we could've lost you.”

Jaehwan nods slowly, still processing everything. His eyes shifted from the metal to Tony, back and forth. “Thank you so much, Mr. Stark.”

“Although, I also put it there for another reason rather than just to keep you alive.” Tony took another bite of his burger. “You have potential, kid. You'd sacrifice your life for others and well, that pretty much makes a hero if you ask me... So if it wasn't too sudden, I was thinking, how about being work partners?”

“You mean... I get to be... an Iron Man... too?” Tony just nods at Jaehwan's question.

Jaehwan was stunned, frozen at this point, everything was happening so fast he hasn't processed it fully yet. He was gonna work for Tony—  _ scratch that _ —he was gonna work  _ with _ Tony Stark. The Tony Stark. Hell, he was gonna  _ be _ Iron Man. It was unbelievable if you ask Jaehwan, he never really expected this his whole life. 

The younger smiled. “I would love to—”

“That's great! Because then if you said ‘no’ I would have to remove that Arc Reactor from your chest and kill you.” Tony smiled innocently. “But you didn't!”

Jaehwan narrowed his eyebrows at him with a pout. When Tony notices, he takes another bite of his burger. “What? That thing on your chest is one of a kind and really hard to make!” 

After a little silence, Jaehwan speaks up again. “Mr. Stark, what about your stolen prototypes? What's going to happen to them?”

“Eversince the first accident, I always made sure to install a self-destruct mode in my inventions just in case these things happen. So basically, those things are destroyed before they could even use em'” Tony sighs.

“But they stole almost everything! Does that mean you lost your life's works??”

“Don't worry about it. I always save the blueprints for them. I can always make another one.” Tony smiles reassuredly.

***

/ 2028 /

Jaehwan sets himself on the couch, groaning now that he has some sort of stiff neck from the fight. He shook his head. “I didn't even  _ do _ much.” He put his feet up unto the coffee table and grabbed the remote at his side, pressing play. The drama starts playing but Jaehwan found himself  _ zooming out _ from the TV minutes after, thinking of other things, most of it about the battle moments ago. 

He awakens when the TV pauses by itself and his little brother's face pops on it.

“Sir, you have an Incoming Video Call from Daehwi.” MAGU's voice replaced the OST of the drama.

“Shit.” Jaehwan groaned and rubbed his face before raising a thumbs up to signify to MAGU to accept the call.

“Hyung! You didn't tell me you went out... again! What the heck!” Jaehwan could see the fumes coming out of Daehwi's ears. “Explain this! What the heck is this?”

With a few clicks, news articles popped up at the side of Daehwi's panel on the TV screen; articles about what happened half an hour ago. Jaehwan clears his throat.

“You're probably too tired, Hwi-ah. That clearly isn't me.” Jaehwan stretches, leaning further into the couch.

“Oh really? So am I supposed to be worried that there's another Iron Man in Korea? Has Tony Stark expanded the industry? Hmm?” Daehwi huffed, rolling his eyes.

“You know, I don't get why you're always so mad when I leave to... you know, save lives!” Jaehwan retorted sarcastically.

“That's because I don't want these news articles turning into something like you were kidnapped, or injured... or worse.  _ Oh god! _ Knock on wood.” Three repetetive thuds were heard on the other end. 

“Daehwi, calm down. I'm  _ fine _ . See? Not a scratch.” Jaehwan stretches his arms to the side to let his dongsaeng examine him. “Besides, this is my job now. As cliché as it sounds, it's really  _ my duty _ now to protect earth and the people who live in it.”

Daehwi sighed. “I just don't want to  _ lose _ you, hyung. You're the only family I got, you know that right?”

Jaehwan hums, feeling slightly emotional now. The two have really come a long way. “I know.”

“At least tell me next time you leave for a mission? Or send me a message. I don't want it coming from MAGU, I want it from  _ you _ .” Daehwi frowns. Jaehwan notices tears forming in his brother's eyes.

“Alright.” Jaehwan shows him a small smile. “How's school?”

“Stressful! I wanna leave this  _ hellhole! _ ” The sudden shout and change of mood made Jaehwan flinch. The sound of both their laughters filling Jaehwan's living room.

“Well, it be like that sometimes.” Jaehwan joked, trying to sound millenial or what not. Daehwi just snorts at his attempt. “Go to sleep, Hwi. It's 1am already. You have school tomorrow.”

“Well, the  _ news _ woke me.” Daehwi glared at Jaehwan then yawned. “Although, I do need to get up early. I'll catch you in the morning?”

“Sure.” Jaehwan nods. “Message me.”

“No.” Daehwi immediately responds. “ _ You _ message me. Night.” 

Before Jaehwan can say anything else, the call drops and the OST of the drama resumed playing. Dumbfounded, he pauses the drama and stood up. He couldn't find a reason to sleep so he quietly walked to the kitchen to make some coffee. 

“MAGU?” Jaehwan calls out while he starts fumbling with the buttons of the coffee machine. “Can you please make a search on the term ‘Sorcerer Supreme’?” 

“Searching...” After short pause, MAGU speaks again. “A  _ Sorcerer Supreme _ is a practitioner of the  _ Mystic Arts _ who has the greatest skills amongst all who practice this type of ambient magical energy.” MAGU explains.

“So  _ basically _ , he's some sort of wizard?” Jaehwan asks as he carefully pours the freshly brewed coffee into a mug.

“No. Sir, he's a  _ Sorcerer Supreme. _ Did you  _ not hear _ a word I just said?” Jaehwan can hear MAGU roll his eyes.

Jaehwan snorts. “ _ Potato, pohtato, _ same stuff, MAGU.” If anything was sassier than Jaehwan, it would be his own creations. “Can you brief me more on this... wizard?”

“The  _ Sorcerer Supreme, _ ” MAGU emphasizes on that and Jaehwan smiles as he slowly sips the drink in his cup. “is a title last given to a man named Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange, who, in the past, used to work as a neurosurgeon but due to a car accident, he healed in a place called  _ Kamar-Taj _ and there, he became an apprentice of  _ The Ancient One, _ thus, becoming Sorcerer Supreme, Master of Mystic Arts and new guardian of  _ The Eye of Agamotto. _ ”

Jaehwan stays silent for a while, processing the new information.  _ Too much terms.  _ “Well, don't you think he's too strange to be Strange?” He jokes, and he  _ sworn _ he heard MAGU scoff. 

“Sir, I think you added something in your coffee that's  _ not _ supposed to be there.” MAGU spat. Before Jaehwan can retort back, MAGU beats him to it. “Incoming call from Tony Stark.”

Jaehwan almost  _ spits _ his coffee out, swallowing it carefully before fixing his shirt and tried to look presentable (he's wearing totoro pajamas).

A hologram then appears in front of him, “Jaehwan! Hey!”

“Mr. Stark!” The younger greeted, quite nervous.

“Eventful night for you, I suppose?”

Jaehwan hums. “ _ Very. _ ”

“The attack in... How do you read this? Goseong? Anyways, there... was that you who...?”

“Yes, Sir, I stopped them— well,  _ kinda. _ ” Jaehwan sighed. 

“Kinda?”

“Well, I fought off whatever they thrown at me and kept the people safe. They somewhat surrendered and left, saying they'll come back with an even bigger fight.” Jaehwan sighs again, scared he might've disappointed Tony.

Tony nods. “At least the people are safe, that's the top priority. You did a good job today, Jaehwan. Although, you know who to call when things get messy. I swear these alien things never get tired of our planet.”

“Of course, Sir.” Jaehwan answers with a nod.

“Did you know what they want?” Tony quickly added.

“Oh,” Jaehwan paused, “they kept asking for a Sorcerer Supreme, a Time Stone which they think is here on Earth.”

“Strange,” Tony scowled. 

“Yes, it pretty much is, Sir.” 

“No, I mean  _ Doctor Strange. _ If it was anything stone-related it was either him or  _ Odinson _ .”

“Oh.” Jaehwan asked, “You know Doctor Strange?”

“Yes, we... worked together once, during the whole Thanos  _ extravaganza _ .” Tony stifled a little laugh. “He's located in Manhattan right now. If you want, I can send you his address and if it won't trouble you too much, you can interrogate him fully about what's going on. I would do it myself but I don't have all the details.”

“Not a problem, Mr. Stark.” Jaehwan smiled. “That would be great. Thank you.” 

“FRIDAY, send Magic Man's location to Jaehwan Kim please. Thank you.” Tony smiled as he turned back to Jaehwan. “Alright, kiddo, lunch is on the table. I'll check up on you tomorrow and tell me the stats. Get some sleep, Jae. It's like what... 1am there?”

“Yes, Sir. It’s quite late.” Jaehwan nods. “Thank you.”

Before the hologram ends, a voice of a familiar little girl talks from Tony's end. “Daddy! Daddy! Can I talk to Jjaeni please?”

“ _ Morgan, _ Jaehwan might be tired...” Tony looks over his shoulder and Jaehwan mouths an ‘it's fine’ with a thumbs up. “Alright, fine, but don't take too long!”

Replacing Tony's hologram, is his nine year-old daughter, Morgan Stark. “Jjaeni!”

“Hey there, Morgan! You wanted to see me?” Jaehwan bent down so he can be eye level with her. 

“Yes!” She giggled happily. “Daddy said you saved the world again today.” 

Jaehwan smiles, almost chuckles. “Not really the world, Morgan. Just here, in Korea.”

“I want to go to Korea!” Morgan immediately added, jumping excitedly. “Daddy? Can we go to Korea?” 

Jaehwan then hears Tony's faint voice. “How about you come here and eat your pasta, then we could talk about it?”

“I'm gonna go now, Jjaeni. I'm going to Korea soon! Wait for me!” She giggles as she runs away and the hologram disappears. 

Jaehwan is left smiling and chuckling to himself as he finishes his coffee.  _ Morgan is so cute. _ He smiles into his cup, imagining if he had a daughter too.

“What are you smiling about?”

Jaehwan could recognize that voice a from a mile away. His smile turned into... anything that's  _ not _ a smile. His face plastered a slightly unfazed expression and sighed as he put down the mug.

“Sir, Daniel has entered the building.” MAGU's voice rang through the kitchen. 

“Yeah, I know.” Jaehwan huffed. “More like he  _ trespassed _ into the building.” He turns, and sees Daniel hung  _ upside-down _ from his web line attached to the ceiling. 

“Good morning, grumpy-face.” Daniel smirked teasingly.

“Hello,  _ Spider-boy.  _ I see you're finally using the new web-shooters I made for you.” Jaehwan grins, proud.

“Yeah, yeah. Don't be too full of yourself.” Daniel swatted. “I just gave them a test run today. You know, typical me swinging from building to building.”

“Pfft—  _ whatever _ . Just tell me you like them and you can keep them.”

“ _ Anyways _ ... what happened in Goseong?” Daniel changes the topic as he slowly lowered himself until he was set unto the ground. 

“Alien invasion, something about a magical stone, naked warriors.” Jaehwan shrugged. “Hey how do you already know about that?”

“Daehwi.  _ Duh? _ ” The younger sasses, making Jaehwan scoff. “Now tell me more about what happened. Fighting off aliens can't be  _ that _ easy.”

“I defeated them, Niel. Not easy but not impossible. I killed all those warriors that charged for me, but they left... said they were gonna come back with a bigger army.” Jaehwan sighed as he landed on the couch. “I don't know what their after, but i'm heading to New York to find out.”

“New York? Why there? Are you meeting with other Avengers?” Daniel asked, sitting beside him. 

“Sorry to get your hopes up but no, Daniel. I'm not.”

_ Damn it. _ The younger pouts.  _ There goes my chance to get my poster signed. _ “Fine, fine— but you're leaving? Tomorrow? Already?”

“Well, yes. The faster I solve this the better.” Jaehwan points out. “By the way, MAGU please get the jet ready, I want to be in New York by noon, what time should we leave?” 

“Calculating...” MAGU pauses, “If you wish to reach New York by noon then we must depart at 2pm, Sir.”

“Great.” Jaehwan turns to Daniel, who still looked slightly confused. “Wanna get a midnight snack?  _ Yeah _ , let's get a snack. I'm  _ starving _ . MAGU please get the car ready.”

“Which one, Sir?”

“How about... the  _ 2002 Ferrari Enzo, _ the black one. Haven't used that in a while.” Jaehwan presses his lips together when MAGU signs off with a monotone “Yes, Sir.” 

Daniel, gaping for a few seconds, looks at Jaehwan in disbelief. “ _ Excuse me,  _ but you own an  _ Enzo? _ ” The elder just chuckles. “Um, since  _ when? _ ”

“Don't have to be too jealous,  _ darling _ . It was just a gift a few years back.” Jaehwan smiled. 

“How come i've never seen that in the basement?”

“Daniel,  _ buddy, _ ” Jaehwan looks at him with a mischievious smirk. “there are so much things you haven’t seen in the basement.” He gets up and walked away, leaving Daniel dumbfounded. 

“Where are you going?” Daniel tilts his head at Jaehwan's back.

“I'm gonna change, I smell like lavender.” 

Daniel crooked his brows. “And that's not a good thing?”

“I wasn't finished. I smell like lavender... mixed with  _ dead _ alien stench.” Jaehwan laughs when Daniel looks at him with a face of disgust.

“Gross! So that's what was stinking!” Daniel swatted Jaehwan away to go to his room. “Get away from here!”

———

“So, where are we eating?” Daniel asks while Jaehwan starts to get the car ready. His eyes roaming around the insides of the vehicle, amazed he's in an Enzo.

“I was thinking burgers—” Jaehwan smirks when he notices Daniel so interested in the car. “Close your mouth, Niel. Another  _ radioactive insect _ might crawl in and give you  _ another _ set of powers.”

Daniel laughs sarcastically, shooting Jaehwan a dirty look right after. “Just...  _ drive _ now please, or I might web-shoot you.”

“I can take those back.” Jaehwan defended. 

On the way to Wendy's—  _ which by the way, is Jaehwan's personal favorite _ — Daniel speaks up but his gaze is focused outside. “Why New York?”

Jaehwan lowers the volume of the music, “Sorry, what?”

“Why go to New York?” 

“The aliens are looking for a so-called Sorcerer Supreme, who holds a magical stone, which I think is what they're after.” Jaehwan pauses. “Stark said he's worked with this Sorcerer Supreme, and he's somewhere in Manhattan.”

“Wizards are real?”

“Niel, if flying ships from space and talking aliens are real, then magic is most definitely real as well.”

Daniel hums. “What exactly are you gonna do there? Do to him?”

“Well,” Jaehwan straightens his posture, eyes still focused on the road. “questioning him is a good start. And maybe some planning on how to get those aliens away from earth.”

“That seems like a hard tough job.  _ Say, _ do you want me to accompany you? You know, just in case something happens...” Daniel asks slowly, and Jaehwan smirks. He takes this chance to look at him.

“Niel, if you wanted to come you could've just  _ told _ me.”

Daniel mirrors Jaehwan's smirk.

———

“It's been a while since i've been to New York.” Daniel comments as the two walk down the stairs positioned outside the jet's door. 

Jaehwan squints from the sun hitting directly at them. “Yeah, me too.” The two walk past the runway, recieving their luggages from the crew from the jet and entered the airport.

Daniel chuckles to a self-discovery he found out after glancing at the giant clock of the airport. “It's just noon here, it's like restarting the whole day again.” 

Jaehwan just hums at Daniel's words. His attention focusing more on the sight in front of him; the airport. It may have been a while but it doesn't mean it has fully changed since he's been here. The two make it past security and outside the building.

“So, where to?” Daniel questions, turning to look at Jaehwan.

The question goes  _ unheard _ as Jaehwan hailed a cab. When the yellow vehicle stops in front of them they throw their baggage into the trunk then squeeze theirselves inside the taxi. The old, smiling taxi driver asks them the same question Daniel asked. 

Jaehwan smiles kindly. “To  _ Stark Tower  _ please.” 

———

Daniel gapes and excitedly runs out of the cab to look up at the building while Jaehwan pays the cab and politely thanks the driver for the ride. He then walks past Daniel and headed into the building. He stopped in his tracks just before the entrance doors to look over his shoulder, smirking. 

“You coming or what?” 

“We're staying  _ here? _ ” Daniel almost screamed in amazement as they walk into the lobby. 

“Yup.” Jaehwan emphasizes the ‘p’ with a resounding pop sound. While walking through the lobby, he acknowledges some of the staff who greeted him. He bows and smiles at every one of them. 

“You seem pretty popular here.” Daniel comments as they get into an elevator. 

“Courtesy, I guess.” Jaehwan shrugs. “I've lived here for two years before moving back to Korea with my own base... Some of them were already here when I still was.” 

“What?  _ Really?  _ You lived  _ here? _ ” Daniel's shocked impression makes Jaehwan laugh. 

“No biggie. Mr. Stark just suggested it was better to be watched over for a while with this thing in my chest before I can actually handle it alone.” Jaehwan explains. “Also because at that time they were still constructing the penthouse in Korea, so...” 

“ _ Yes biggie! _ ” Daniel huffs. “Is there anything else I  _ don't _ know?”

“A lot has happened in the last five years, Daniel.” Jaehwan pats his best friend's shoulder. “I find it lucky that I even got to see you again.” 

Daniel hums. “I guess we need more catching up to do, huh?” After hearing no other than a hum from Jaehwan, Daniel turns around and looks out of the glass elevator. There were people in black suits everywhere, walking across from floor to floor on the glass stairs.

“I thought this building was destroyed.” 

“It was... but they chose to rebuild it, for work purposes, I guess. Also because New York City never felt the same without it, as I was told.”

Daniel noticed the staff looking kind of young, somewhat like interns or rookies. “And i'm guessing Tony Stark turned this into an office tower?” Jaehwan turns to look at Daniel. “You know, for Stark Industries and stuff.”

“Only the first fifteen floors are the ‘office’ actually. This building is still a penthouse.” Jaehwan explains. “The tower has been passed down to someone after I left.”

“Oh?” Daniel wondered. “Who?”

“He used to be an intern for Stark Industries. Him and Mr. Stark are  _ very _ close.”

“He sounds suspicious.” Daniel remarks.

“We're meeting him later.” Jaehwan smirks. “And don't worry, you'll  _ love _ him.”

_ Ding. _

The elevator door opens at the 77th floor, and from what Daniel heard, it lead them into a two-bedroom suite. The first thing he saw was a giant window, showing New York City. Daniel assumed it was the living room because there was a couch and TV on the left side and a grand piano on the right.

“Look, Jae!” Daniel immediately ran towards the instrument. He sat on the stool started to press random keys. “A piano!” The elder just laughs at him.

Jaehwan, on the other hand, heads to the kitchen which is on the left side of the floor. It was big and would come in handy if either of them actually knew how to cook. 

Jaehwan then walked towards the right side and walked towards a sliding door that lead to a balcony. He looked out for a while, not taking to long in breathing the fresh air and watching the passing cars down below. 

He went back in and walked back to the living room, where he found Daniel getting up from the now-messed up couch.

“Niel, you take that room, and i'll take this one right here.” Jaehwan points at the door on the left side of the room, signalling to Daniel that it's what he'll use.

Daniel heads toward the giant window of the living room, looking up. “Can we visit the rooftop or is that not for guest use?” Daniel asks, curious.

“Well, we would have to meet the owner for that.” Jaehwan answers as he opens the door to his bedroom. He chuckles when Daniel asks who the owner was again but Jaehwan chose not to answer, making it a surprise.

He drops his bag by the door and walked towards the bed, noticing a little paper on it. It was a card, with a hand-written ‘Welcome Back!’ on it. Jaehwan flips the card. ‘Visit me upstairs if you'd like!’ 

———

After settling in, they take the elevator again to head to the rooftop; to that so-called ‘floor with the giant balcony above us’ Daniel didn't stop questioning Jaehwan about. As the doors opened, Jaehwan immediately felt  _ nostalgic _ . 

This was his  _ home _ for  _ two years _ after getting his Arc Reactor. He remembered the times Tony would teach him about his inventions, or how he would play cat and mouse with Morgan whenever she visited. 

Jaehwan looked over to Daniel and realized that expression; it was like how he first reacted when Tony Stark first showed him the tower.

Daniel walks around, examining the place with wide eyes. Never in his life did he ever imagine getting into this building. He walked around, looking up and around and  _ wait— _ he looks up at the ceiling again and examines it. He shoots a line, lifting himself up, sticking on the ceiling by instinct and touches a white sticky substance, similar to his... but not  _ his _ . “Is this...  _ web? _ ”

Daniel glances at Jaehwan and only grows more anxious when the elder gives him a look he couldn't decipher. 

“Jaehwan... don't tell me that the person who lives here is—” Daniel cuts himself off turning to the left sharply, towards the balcony area. Jaehwan notices Daniel's hair rising.  _ Spidey Senses. Classic. _

“TINGLE! TINGLE! TINGLE!”

Suddenly, a web patches Daniel's mouth and two other lines of web wrap around his arms and legs together, causing Daniel to lose his stick on the ceiling and drop to the floor.

“Oh my—” Jaehwan rushes towards him, bending down in concern, “Niel! You alright, bud?” He asks while getting the web off his mouth.

“PETER PARKER LIVES HERE??” Daniel screams at Jaehwan, he doesn't know how he got rid of the web... but  _ whatever _ .  _ Spider-thing, I guess. _ Jaehwan gives him a deadpan expression. 

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.” Jaehwan mumbles before he helps Daniel get up and shouts, “Peter! Come out now, please! It's Jaehwan.”

“Jaehwan!” 

The said man turns around to where the voice came from and before he can even answer, a pair of arms wrap around Jaehwan's torso. 

“Hey Peter!” Jaehwan chuckles and ruffles the boy's hair. “You're so big now! Are you like what? Twenty already?”

Peter giggles as he pulls away. “Yeah, i'm actually  _ twenty-one _ now... but you know, I still have a mental age of an eleven year old.” 

Before Peter can add another sentence, his expression freezes and the hair on his arm rose. He looks past Jaehwan and sees an unfamiliar face.

“Ah,” Jaehwan faces Daniel with him. “that's Daniel. He's the guy I was talking about. Another Spiderman.”

“One of  _ me? _ ” Peter quickly asks, slowly walking towards Daniel. “Like...  _ Spider-man powers me? _ ”

“Mhmm.” Jaehwan and Peter approach Daniel and when they do, Jaehwan almosts laughs how Daniel was stopping himself from bursting into excitement. 

“Peter, Daniel. Daniel, Peter.” Jaehwan introduces.

“Hi, i'm Peter Parker,” the boy extends a hand. “I'm... Spider-man.”

Daniel forgets how to speak as he shakes hands with Peter. “Kang Daniel. I'm uhh, also... Spider-man? I'll come up with another name if you want. You got that first.” He laughs nervously.  _ PETER PARKER IS SO HOT. _

“No!  _ No! _ That's totally fine.” Peter says almost immediately. “We're like...  _ Spider-bros, _ now.” He smiles.

_THAT SMILE—_ _Spider-bros. I LOVE IT._ Daniel mentally whines. _Damn you, you're so cute._

“Daniel's a scientist and was involved in an… accident. The  _ Spider-thing _ then just kind of happened after that.” Jaehwan explains.

“Woah! That's so cool.” Peter was amazed that there was someone else like him while blood rose up to Daniel's cheeks. “Remind me to add you to the  _ team _ . I’ll make you meet them, they’re super cool as well.”

“Team?” Daniel questions. “There’s a  _ team _ ?”

“ _ Spiderverse _ . Multiple Spidermen and woman. Long story.” Peter chuckles to himself. “Come, sit. I'll have Karen make some juice.”

———

“I was shocked actually,” Peter poured some juice into three glasses on the counter top. “when dad told me to have maids clean the guest room, I was like ‘what, why?’ I thought some company partners were staying overnight again just to know it was you guys.  _ Yay _ .”

He brought the tray to the living room, placing it down on the coffee table. Peter adds, “Good thing I have no gig today.” He takes a seat opposite to them.

“Yeah, good thing.” Daniel comments before Jaehwan can.  _ Starstruck puppy. _ Jaehwan rolls his eyes.

Peter chuckles. “Anyways, Dad also told me you're meeting with Dr. Strange tomorrow?”

“Dad?” Daniel mumbles before Jaehwan can answer,  _ again _ . Jaehwan rolls his eyes,  _ again _ . 

Daniel continues, “I don't mean to offend you, Peter. I know your story and all but... you said ‘Dad?’”

Peter smiles softly. “After Thanos, i've actually already been _Peter_ _Parker-Stark_. Tony _adopted_ me.” 

Daniel's hand found it's way to his gaping mouth, covering it. “What?  _ No way! _ ”

Peter chuckles. “Yes way!”

“That is  _ so _ cool! I never knew that!” Daniel says to Jaehwan. 

“That's because Peter never really wanted to make a  _ public _ announcement about that topic.” Jaehwan explains to Daniel while carefully eyeing Peter for confirmation.

Peter nods to both of them. “Yeah... you know, because of issues that could ruin his reputation and all. There are still a lot of haters in this world.”

“Oh.” Daniel giggles while placing his index finger above his lips. “I'll keep it a secret, don't worry.”

“Thank you.” Peter smiles.

“As much as I want someone to adopt me,” Daniel pauses. “I have an elder brother figure, I call him Jisung hyung. Been with me through thick and thin. Actually, now that I think of it, he's more like a parent figure to me now. I'm so happy to have him.”

Peter's expression changes. “Oh? You have no... parents as well?”

“Killed in a crash.” Daniel sighs. 

“ _ Damn _ . I'm so sorry.”

Daniels shows a small smile. “It's alright. It's been years anyway. I learned how to cope with it, made me who I am now.”

“We just separated for a few years then one day I found out my best friend can shoot webs.” Jaehwan joked, and they all laughed. Daniel slapping him between fits of giggles.

“You guys come a long way?” Peter asks as the laughter toned down a bit. 

“Since highschool actually, we were partners-in-crime.” Daniel answered as he turned to Jaehwan. “We stuck together like we were glued.”

“We separated for a few years after the snap, though.” Jaehwan added. “We had to get used to everything and there was so much to save and rebuild, we just got so busy.”

“Yeah but we managed to find each other after everything and here we are now.” Daniel placed a hand on Jaehwan's thigh. “We may have had a life changing addition to our lives, but it seems we never actually changed when it came to each other.”

Jaehwan hums. “To me, he's just Kang Daniel. Not a boy with spider-like powers, swinging from house to house, fighting crime and bringing justice and peaceful nights to a neighborhood— he's just a bro I play video games with.”

Daniel chuckles to ease the warmness of his heart. “Aww.  _ Likewise _ .” Jaehwan slaps him at his one word response. “Okay,  _ okay _ , um... everything he said  _ except _ that he doesn't have spider powers but an iron suit and he saves the whole South Korea and not just the neighborhood.”

Peter laughs at them. “You guys remind me of me and my friend, Ned. He's the best.”

———

“So those alien things are here for the Time Stone?” Peter rubbed at his chin, curious. “They told me Thanos destroyed the stones after he used them.”

“Apparently not because Mr. Stark told me the Time Stone was with Dr. Strange.” Jaehwan stirred his coffee, watching the little whirlpool effect in his mug.

“Oh... Well, good thing he's not that far away from here.” Peter points at the bright lights of New York City. “It takes about 20 minutes, more or less. I can take you if you want. Got my license!”

“Ah, thank you Peter but I think me and Daniel can handle it.” Jaehwan smiles politely. “You seem to know a lot about him.”

“I was with Mr. Stark and Dr. Strange during the battle in Titan. Got to know him a little more during the time we were stuck in some realm after we got dusted.” Peter explained.

Jaehwan made a sound of fascination. He wanted to ask more about the battle on Titan but he believed that it would only lead to a negative chat. So he settles for a “Do you visit him often?”

“Not often, just sometimes, when i'm bored or something.” Peter chuckles. “He teaches me the Mystic Arts and how to make those orange shield thing he does. The  _ boom-boom-whoosh.  _ Have you seen those?” 

“No, not yet.” Jaehwan sips from his mug. “I don't even  _ know _ him, Peter. I know almost 0% nothing if not for Google-ing him.”

“Oh, really? That sucks.” Peter frowns. “You should ask him to show you what he does, it's pretty dope if you ask me. He can make portals to almost everywhere! That I wanna learn.”

Jaehwan nods in fascination. Peter adds, “He also has this cloak, he's fun to play with.”

Jaehwan stops him right there. “ _ Him? _ Or the  _ cloak? _ ”

“The cloak.” Peter says while looking at him mischeivously, then slowly giggling after. “His cloak is  _ alive _ , Jaehwan. I  _ swear _ . It's very loyal to him too.”

“I'll keep an eye on that tomorrow, then.” Jaehwan chuckles. “Never heard of a living cloak in my life. Is it like, what,  _ Aladdin? _ ”

“It's a cloak, Jae. Not a  _ carpet _ . It doesn't dance either. It just attacks you if you're being rather rude to it or the Doctor.” Peter raises his brows, getting the facts clear.

“Pfft— cloak, carpet, whatever, it's  _ alive! _ And it moves! It moves?” Jaehwan turns to Peter.

“More than move, it can make you  _ fly _ . It's called a  _ Cloak of Levitation _ .” 

“Sounds like something I want to try on.” Jaehwan set his mug on a nearby table.

Peter laughs at him. “You can't just  _ try _ the cloak on! It has to choose you.”

“Choose me? What is it, a Pokemon trainer now? I mean,  _ come _ on! Really?” Jaehwan crossed his arms.

“I tried myself, man. It really won't budge. It chose Strange and only Strange.” Peter jokingly pats Jaehwan on the shoulder, comforting him. 

“Huh,  _ strange _ .” 

Peter's pat turns into a playful smack.

“Ow!”

———

“Rise and shine,  _ Watson! _ We have a case to solve!” Jaehwan clapped his hands twice, making the curtains open to his command. 

Unfortunately, Daniel has been facing towards the window. His eyes burned from the light. “Oh my—” He rolled over, rubbing his eyes. “Okay, first_, you’re _Watson_._” Daniel demanded. “_I’m_ the Sherlock between both of us.”

“Wh—  _ no!  _ I object!” Jaehwan walked towards him. “ _ I’m  _ Sherlock!  _ You’re  _ Watson!” Jaehwan screamed, scaring the younger.

“I am  _ not! _ ” Daniel screamed back. 

“Well,  _ Sherlock’s  _ don’t  _ wait  _ for their partner to wake them up!” Jaehwan exits his room, missing the slipper Daniel playfully threw at him.

After an hour of screaming and breakfast, then another hour for showering and arguing who does the dishes, then thirty minutes of hair styling and clothes snatching, the two were finally,  _ finally _ ready to leave.

“Is Peter awake?” Daniel asks as they're in the elevator. 

“Earlier than us. He went to Queens today, to meet up with his aunt.” Jaehwan answers.

“That's too bad, he could've joined us.”

Jaehwan huffs. “ _ Actually _ , he wanted to drive us today, he asked me yesterday. Although, I told him ‘no’ because I knew we could do this ourselves and I didn't want to bother him.”

“ _ What?? _ ” Daniel almost screamed.

Jaehwan smacked his chest. “Can you  _ shut _ it? We're at the office floors already! They could  _ hear _ you!”

“You turned down Peter Parker's offer!”

“I didn't  _ turn _ him down! I just didn't want to bother him today, that's all.” Jaehwan shrugs. “Besides, I bet the kid has better things to do.” 

Daniel's lips purse, giving in and nods. “I guess you're right.”

_ Ding. _

“I'm  _ always _ right.”

———

After quite a quiet cab ride, Daniel and Jaehwan were dropped off at Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan. They walked through the streets, pretending to be tourists with their masks and glasses on. 

“We look like  _ idols _ .” Daniel remarked. “Someone might mistaken me as a boy group member or something.”

“You don't have the visual to look like one.” Jaehwan joked, stifling a small laugh.

“Hey!” Daniel snarls, pretending to be deeply offended. “I could be a top 1 if we joined survival show!” 

Jaehwan scoffs. “Keep dreaming.” 

“Yeah? If you're so annoyingly degrading, what rank do you think you'd be in?” Daniel huffs. 

Jaehwan hums. “Maybe 4.” 

“Only 4?” Daniel questions, tone softening.

“Well, yeah... because i'm humble.” Jaehwan chuckled. “But as if it could happen.”

“It could!” Daniel chirps encouragingly. “Maybe in another universe, we are idols.”

“What makes you think  _ we'd _ be together in another universe?” Jaehwan snorts.

“Well,  _ duh _ . We're  _ inseperable _ .” Daniel nudges teasingly. “You have no faith in us. You suck.”

Ignoring Daniel this time, Jaehwan double taps the side of his shades, activating a screen only he can see. What used to be people were now shapes showing their heat signatures, and at the sides of the glasses were facts about the place and the weather, etc.

“MAGU scan the buildings for me, give me directions to Bleecker St. 177A.”

An orange line then appears on the road, as seen through the shades. Jaehwan points and pats Daniel to follow him. The two walked forward until they had to turn left into quite a small street but also big enough to fit a two-lane road.

“You used to sing though, right?” Daniel asks.

Jaehwan intakes a sharp breath, taking a while before muttering “ _ Used to. _ ” 

The orange line stops in the middle of the road, and Jaehwan raises a brow. “MAGU why do we only stop here?”

“Sir, we tried calculating the exact location of 177A but it seemed to be blocked or private information.” MAGU explains. “Although, you are in Bleecker Street and the building must be near.”

Jaehwan looks around for anything that looked like a building where a wizard could live. He notices the shape of the window at a nearby building and it matched the symbol he saw when he searched up Doctor Strange.  _ Bingo _ .

They walk a little more distance until they reach a small, green double door. Jaehwan glances at Daniel before knocking, quite nervous. The building itself somewhat has an aura to it and he's getting the chills already.

_ Knock _ . 

_ Knock _ .

_ Kno— _ “Woah!”

At the third knock, Jaehwan found himself knocking at nothing for he has already found himself  _ inside _ the building. He turns around and checks for Daniel, the younger looks at him with the same shocked impression.

“ _ Dude, _ ” Daniel breathed. “was that like... teleportation? We got  _ passed _ the door and it  _ didn't _ even open!”

Jaehwan glanced at the doors, completely  _ untouched _ since he noticed it was locked from the inside—  _ Okay, That was so freaky _ — He breathed, eyes roaming around the inside of the building instead. 

“How is this place suddenly so  _ huge? _ It looked so small from the outside.” Daniel remarked, making Jaehwan notice it as well.

There were hallways to the sides and giant stairs in front of them. They were torn between going upstairs and exploring or waiting here patiently for Dr. Strange.

The elder took a few steps forward, about to walk on the stairs when Daniel grabbed him by the shoulder. “Jae, I think we should wait here patiently for the Doctor.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I don't want to be  _ thrown _ into some other dimension or be eaten by  _ something _ just because we trespassed his territory. I mean, come on, who  _ knows _ what could be in here?” Daniel explains and Jaehwan rolls his eyes but sighs. 

“Fine.”

As they walked back to their previous position, they hear  _ creaking _ from the stairs behind them. The sound makes them immediately turn around, and they silently gasp.

A tall man appeared in dark blue robes, loads of belts on his waist, and a giant red cloak hanging from his back. His expression looked fierce and firm, hard to decipher. 

“Kim Jaehwan and Kang Daniel?”

Jaehwan and Daniel's mouths go dry, trying to find the right words to say. Jaehwan speaks up first, “I—  _ we _ suppose you are Doctor Stephen Strange?”

“You did your Google search correctly. Yes, I am Doctor Strange.” The tall man sent a small smirk towards their way. “Why don't you come with me upstairs, for a cup of tea? Certainly both of you have come a long way just to meet me.”

Jaehwan and Daniel glance at each other before following the Doctor up the stairs. Once they reach the third floor and going through loads of hallways, Jaehwan found the symbol of the window he saw from outside. He took a while to stare at it.

“That's the Sanctum symbol, The Seal of Vishanti. It protects this place from harmful magic from the outside. It's not just a well designed window frame, if that's what you were thinking.” Strange announces.

The Doctor leads them into the living room where a tea set was already prepared on the coffee table. He ushers them down to sit as he does as well, but on the opposite end.

“So tell me, why have you come to New York? Specifically  _ here _ ?”

“Well, Doctor,” Jaehwan didn't know how to start. “Two days ago, in South Korea time,  _ you do the math, _ there was an attack in one of the provinces in my country. It seemed that an alien spaceship has invaded them around midnight last night.”

“Oh?”

“They searched for a Sorcerer Supreme, although I told them they probably landed on the wrong planet, because I didn't know you guys, uh,  _ exist _ .” Jaehwan scratches his nape. “ _ No offense. _ ”

Strange hums. “What did they want?”

“A Time Stone.”

“ _ Damn it. _ ” Strange sighed, looking distressed. “I thought we hid it so  _ well _ , how could they've been able to still track it?”

“Hid it?”

“After Thanos used the stones, we had found out he never actually destroyed them, despite claiming that he did. He hid them on his ship with his children to watch over it... A few more battles after that, we got them back and hid them separate from each other across the universe. The Time Stone remains on earth, under the supervision of my apprentice. It was enchanted by one of the hardest spells no one, except me and my apprentice, and maybe Wong, could crack.”

Daniel snorted so suddenly, silencing the two. “He said  _ crack _ .” He explained. Jaehwan facepalmed himself mentally.

“ _ Wait _ ... so this Time Stone thing  _ isn't _ with you?” Jaehwan questioned.

“Not at the moment,  _ no _ .” Strange shook his head. “I made my apprentice look after it, far from here because New York is usually the target of beings not from our planet, mostly because of these stones.” He pauses. “There's already one Infinity Stone in New York, we can't afford having two at the same place. We already learned our lesson about having three at the same time and location.”

“Three Stones? Here in New York?” Daniel asked, more interested now.

“ _ Before _ the snap, that is.” Strange pointed out. “Now, like I said, we made sure that the stones stay far away from each other and are strongly guarded too.” 

“Hold on,” Jaehwan spoke. “You said that New York was a target  _ because _ of the Stones. So if the aliens invaded Korea, that means...”

“The Time Stone is in Korea?” Daniel questioned, glancing from Jaehwan to Strange.

“We've established three other Sanctums around the world. One in Canada, in Paris and... in Korea.” Strange explained. “My apprentice... is from Korea.”

Jaehwan blinked, leaning back into his chair. “No wonder.”

“Your apprentice… why does  _ he  _ have the stone?” Daniel popped a questions this time.

“When the time is right and he has proven himself worthy, he’ll take my place as Sorcerer Supreme.” Strange simply said. “One of the tasks of a Sorcerer Supreme is to guard the Time Stone, which, my apprentice is currently training for.” 

“He seems to be a very responsible guy.” Jaehwan mumbles softly. 

“He is.” Strange spoke again after sipping from his cup. His eyes avert towards Jaehwan’s Arc Reacter glowing under his shirt. “You work for Stark?”

“I work  _ with _ Stark.” Jaehwan corrected Strange, then looked down unto his Reactor. “If it wasn't for him I would've  _ died _ .” 

Strange mirrored Jaehwan's soft smile. “You have a purpose, Jaehwan. Tony saw that in you... And I see it too.”

———

“So, the only way we can actually  _ stop _ these aliens from invading our planet is to literally  _ kill _ them all?” Jaehwan questions.

“Or you could bargain with their leader.” Strange adds. “ _ Both _ could work.”

“ _ Bargain? _ ” Daniel cocks a brow. “Like...  _ talk it out? _ ”

“Yes, why? Does it  _ not _ sound like a good idea?” Strange crosses his arms.

“Oh it's a good idea, alright.” Daniel nods. “If you're some kind of  _ guidance councelor _ .” He jokes. 

“ _ Hey, _ I bargained with Dormammu more than a hundred times to save your asses.” Strange spat. “I'm telling you, it could work.”

Jaehwan cleared his throat. “Okay, alright, so we fight  _ and _ bargain.”

“And if that doesn't work out?” Daniel glances at Strange.

Now both eyes were on the Doctor. “If it doesn't work the first time, restart the time loop with the Time Stone and try again.”

“We don't know how that stone works though.” Jaehwan says, clasping his hands together.

“You didn't think that you were going to do this alone, did you? My apprentice and another trusted sorcerer will fight by your side. Don't worry.” Strange explains. “It's their duty to keep the Stone safe. I won’t just give it to you.”

“Great,” Daniel turned to Jaehwan. “ _ We _ can do the fighting, while  _ they _ do the bargaining.”

Strange huffed a sigh as he crossed his arms. “Sometimes, violence is not always the key.”

“ _ god,  _ he  _ is _ a guidance councelor.” Daniel just blinked at him. “Can we go now?” He pleads to Jaehwan. 

“I just have one last question, Doctor.” Jaehwan says as he picks up his tea cup, looping his index finger into the hole. He takes a slow sip of his tea before asking.

“Hwang Minhyun.”

Okay,  _ what _ ?

Jaehwan suddenly  _ spit _ the tea, Doctor Strange immediately created a shield in front of him so he stays dry, as if he  _ saw _ it coming. Daniel  _ freezes _ at everything.

Jaehwan looks at him directly, with a confused and apologetic look. “I'm  _ so _ sorry about the mess, but you said Hwang—?”

The shield disappears and Strange raises his hand, making the mess on his coffee table  _ disappear _ . “Hwang Minhyun, is the name of my apprentice.” A pause, “In case you were wondering.”

Jaehwan stays silent, averting his gaze to the floor this time—  _ It could be another Hwang Minhyun, right? _

“No.” 

Both draw their attention to Strange who has just stood up from his seat. Jaehwan looked at him  _ intently _ .

“It's Hwang Minhyun.” Strange looked into Jaehwan's eye. From that exchange, Jaehwan knew Strange  _ knew _ something.

Jaehwan stood up abruptly. “That's  _ impossible _ ! He's—!”

“ _ Not _ .” Strange had serious plastered all over him. Jaehwan couldn't decipher whether he was bluffing or not.

Before the two can even say anything back that could lead to situations neither of them wanted, Strange created a portal to the entrance of the Sanctum and pointed at it. “After you.”

Jaehwan and Daniel walk through slowly, then Strange follows after. Daniel still chose not to say anything while Jaehwan was silently dumbfounded.

“I understand that this is  _ too _ unrealistic for you to believe right now, but it's not fake.” Strange handed Jaehwan a small piece of paper that suddenly appeared on his open palm. 

Jaehwan eyed the paper on his palm for a few seconds before grabbing it and stuffing it into his jacket pocket.  _ He'll open it later. _

Strange nodded. With a wave of his hand, the doors opened and wind from outside gushed in. Daniel headed out first while Jaehwan held his hand out to shake Strange's hand. “Thank you, Doctor.”

“Not a problem.” Strange smiled. 

As Jaehwan walked out, he glanced at Strange who closed the doors. “Go easy on him, Jaehwan.  _ He's not the same anymore. _ ” Is the last thing Jaehwan heard from Strange that day.

———

/ 1 Week Later /

“This is  _ impossible _ .” Jaehwan mumbles before burying his head into his palms. “He  _ can't _ be— I know he  _ can't— _ ”

He gets up from the foot of the bed to the swivel chair where his coat is lazily hung on the back rest. He fishes into one of the pockets for the paper Strange passed unto him a week ago. He huffs as he opens it.

_ 5 Bongeunsa-ro 67-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul , South Korea _

**Author's Note:**

> i wonder who's address that is? can any of you take a guess where that address may lead jaehwan to?


End file.
